HOP-O'-MY-THUMB

[20]

HERE once lived in a village a faggot-maker and his
wife, who had seven children, all boys; the eldest was
no more than ten years old, and the youngest was only
seven. It was odd enough, to be sure, that they should
have so many children in such a short time; but the
truth is, the wife always brought him two and once
three at a time. This made him very poor, for not one
of these boys was old enough to get a living: and what
was still worse, the youngest was a puny little fellow
who hardly ever spoke a word. Now this, indeed, was a
mark of his good sense, but it made his father and
mother suppose him to be silly, and they thought that
at last he would turn out quite a fool. This boy was
the least size ever seen; for when he was born he was
no bigger than a man's thumb, which made him be
christened by the name of Hop-o'-my-thumb. The poor
child was the drudge of the whole house, and always
bore the blame of everything that was done wrong. For
all this, Hop-o'-my-thumb was far more clever than any
of his brothers; and though he spoke but little, he
heard and knew more than people thought. It happened
just at this time, that for want of rain the fields had
grown but half as much corn and potatoes
[21] as they used
to grow; so that the faggot-maker and his wife could
not give the boys the food they had before, which was
always either bread or potatoes.

After the father and mother had grieved some time, they
thought that as they could contrive no other way to
live, they must somehow get rid of their children. One
night when the boys were gone to bed, and the
faggot-maker and his wife were sitting over a few
lighted sticks to warm themselves, the husband sighed
deeply, and said, "You see, my dear, we cannot maintain
our children any longer, and to see them die of hunger
before my eyes is what I could never bear. I will,
therefore, to-morrow morning take them to the forest,
and leave them in the thickest part of it, so that they
will not be able to find their way back: this will be
very easy; for while they amuse themselves with tying
up the faggots, we need only slip away when they are
looking some other way."

"Ah! husband," cried the poor wife, "you cannot, no,
you never can consent to be the death of your own
children."

The husband in vain told her to think how very poor
they were.

The wife replied "that this was true, to be sure; but
if she was poor, she was still their mother;" and then
she cried as if her heart would break. At last she
thought how shocking it would be to see them starved to
death before their eyes; so she agreed to what her
husband had said, and then went sobbing to bed.

[22] Hop-o'-my-thumb had been awake all the time; and when
he heard his father talk very seriously, he slipped
away from his brothers' side, and crept under his
father's bed, to hear all that was said without being
seen.

When his father and mother had left off talking, he got
back to his own place, and passed the night in thinking
what he should do the next morning.

He rose early, and ran to the river's side, where he
filled his pockets with small white pebbles, and then
went back home. In the morning they all set out, as
their father and mother had agreed on; and
Hop-o'-my-thumb did not say a word to any of his
brothers about what he had heard. They came to a forest
that was so very thick, that they could not see each
other a few yards off. The faggot-maker set to work
cutting down wood; and the children began to gather the
twigs, to make faggots of them.

When the father and mother saw that the young ones were
all very busy, they slipped away without being seen.
The children soon found themselves alone, and began to
cry as loud as they could. Hop-o'-my-thumb let them cry
on, for he knew well enough how to lead them safe home,
as he had taken care to drop the white pebbles he had
in his pocket along all the way he had come. He only
said to them, "Never mind it, my lads; father and
mother have left us here by ourselves, but only take
care to follow me, and I will lead you back again."

When they heard this, they left off crying, and
[23] followed Hop-o'-my-thumb, who soon brought them to
their father's house by the very same path which they
had come along. At first they had not the courage to go
in; but stood at the door to hear what their parents
were talking about. Just as the faggot-maker and his
wife had come home without their children, a great
gentleman of the village sent to pay them two guineas,
for work they had done for him, which he had owed them
so long that they never thought of getting a farthing
of it. This money made them quite happy; for the poor
creatures were very hungry, and had no other way of
getting anything to eat.

The faggot-maker sent his wife out immediately to buy
some meat; and as it was a long time since she had made
a hearty meal, she bought as much meat as would have
been enough for six or eight persons. The truth was,
when she was thinking what would be enough for dinner,
she forgot that her children were not at home; but as
soon as she and her husband had done eating, she cried
out, "Alas! where are our poor children?
how they would
feast on what we have left! It was all your fault,
husband! I told you we should repent leaving them to
starve in the forest!—Oh mercy! perhaps they have
already been eaten by the hungry wolves!" The poor
woman shed plenty of tears: "Alas! alas!" said she,
over and over again, "what is become of my dear
children?"

The children, who were all at the door, cried out
together, "Here we are, mother, here we are!"

[24] She flew like lightning to let them in, and kissed
every one of them.

The faggot-maker and his wife were charmed at having
their children once more with them, and their joy for
this lasted till their money was all spent; but then
they found themselves quite as ill off as before. So by
degrees they again thought of leaving them in the
forest: and that the young ones might not come back a
second time, they said they would take them a great
deal farther than they did at first. They could not
talk about this matter so slily but that Hop-o'-my-thumb
found means to hear all that passed between them; but
he cared very little about it, for he thought it would
be easy for him to do just the same as he had done
before. But though he got up very early the next
morning to go to the river's side to get the pebbles, a
thing which he had not thought of hindered him; for he
found that the house door was double-locked.
Hop-o'-my-thumb was now quite at a loss what to do; but
soon after this, his mother gave each of the children a
piece of bread for breakfast, and then it came into his
head that he could make his share do as well as the
pebbles, by dropping crumbs of it all the way as he
went. So he did not eat his piece, but put it into his
pocket.

It was not long before they all set out, and their
parents took care to lead them into the very thickest
and darkest part of the forest. They then slipped away
by a by-path as before, and left the children by
themselves again. All this did not give Hop-o'-my-thumb
any concern, for
[25] he thought himself quite sure of
getting back by means of the crumbs that he had dropped
by the way; but when he came to look for them he found
that not a crumb was left, for the birds had eaten them
all up.

The poor children were now sadly off, for the farther
they went, the harder it was for them to get out of the
forest. At last, night came on, and the noise of the
wind among the trees seemed to them like the howling of
wolves, so that every moment they thought they should
be eaten up. They hardly dared to speak a word, or to
move a limb, for fear. Soon after there came a heavy
rain, which wetted them to the very skin, and made the
ground so slippery, that they fell down almost at every
step, and got dirty all over.

Before it was quite dark, Hop-o'-my-thumb climbed up to
the top of a tree, and looked round on all sides to see
if he could find any way of getting help. He saw a
small light, like that of a candle, but it was a very
great way off, and beyond the forest. He then came down
from the tree, to try to find the way to it; but he
could not see it when he was on the ground, and he was
in the utmost trouble what to do next. They walked on
towards the place where he had seen the light, and at
last reached the end of the forest, and got sight of it
again. They now walked faster; and after being much
tired and vexed (for every time they got into lower
ground they lost sight of the light), came to the house
it was in. They knocked at the door, which was opened
by a very
good-natured-look- [26] ing lady, who asked what
brought them there. Hop-o'-my-thumb told her that they
were poor children, who had lost their way in the
forest, and begged that she would give them a bed till
morning. When the lady saw that they had such pretty
faces, she began to shed tears and said, "Ah! my poor
children, you do not know what place you are come to.
This is the house of an Ogre, who eats up little boys
and girls."

"Alas! madam," replied Hop-o'-my-thumb, who trembled
from head to foot, "what shall we do? If we go back to
the forest, we are sure of being torn to pieces by the
wolves; we would rather, therefore, be eaten by the
gentleman: besides, when he sees us, perhaps he may
take pity on us and spare our lives."

The Ogre's wife thought she could contrive to hide them
from her husband till morning; so she let them go in
and warm themselves by a good fire, before which there
was a whole sheep roasting for the Ogre's supper. When
they had stood a short time by the fire, there came a
loud knocking at the door: this was the Ogre come home.
His wife hurried the children under the bed, and told
them to lie still, and she then let her husband in.

The Ogre asked if supper were ready, and if the wine
were fetched from the cellar; and then he sat down at
the table. The sheep was not quite done, but he liked
it much better half raw. In a minute or two the Ogre
began to snuff to his right and left, and said he smelt
child's flesh.

"It must be this calf which has just been killed," said
his wife.

[27] "I smell child's flesh, I tell thee once more," cried
the Ogre, looking all about the room; "I smell child's
flesh; there is something going on that I do not know
of."

As soon as he had spoken these words, he rose from his
chair and went towards the bed.

"Ah! madam," said he, "you thought to cheat me, did
you? Wretch! thou art old and tough thyself, or else I
would eat thee up too! But come, come, this is lucky
enough; for the brats will make a nice dish for three
Ogres who are my particular friends, and who are to
dine with me to-morrow."

He then drew them out one by one from under the bed.
The poor children fell on their knees and begged his
pardon as humbly as they could; but this Ogre was the
most cruel of all Ogres, and instead of feeling any
pity, he only began to think how sweet and tender their
flesh would be; so he told his wife they would be nice
morsels, if she served them up with plenty of sauce. He
then fetched a large knife, and began to sharpen it on
a long whetstone that he held in his left hand; and all
the while he came nearer and nearer to the bed. The
Ogre took up one of the children, and was going to set
about cutting him to pieces; but his wife said to him,
"What in the world makes you take the trouble of
killing them to-night? Will it not be time enough
to-morrow morning?"

"Hold your prating," replied the Ogre; "they will grow
tender by being kept a little while after they are
killed."

[28] "But," said his wife, "you have got so much meat in the
house already; here is a calf, two sheep, and half a
pig."

"True," said the Ogre, "so give them all a good supper,
that they may not get lean, and then send them to bed."

The good creature was quite glad at this. She gave them
plenty for their supper, but the poor children were so
terrified that they could not eat a bit.

The Ogre sat down to his wine, very much pleased with
the thought of giving his friends such a dainty dish:
this made him drink rather more than common, and he was
soon obliged to go to bed himself. Now the Ogre had
seven daughters, who were all very young like
Hop-o'-my-thumb and his brothers. These young Ogresses
had fair skins, because they fed on raw meat like their
father; but they had small grey eyes, quite round, and
sunk in their heads, hooked noses, wide mouths, and
very long sharp teeth standing a great way off each
other. They were too young as yet to do much mischief;
but they showed that if they lived to be as old as
their father, they would grow quite as cruel as he was,
for they took pleasure already in biting young
children, and sucking their blood. The Ogresses had
been put to bed very early that night; they were all in
one bed, which was very large, and every one of them
had a crown of gold on her head. There was another bed
of the same size in the room, and in this the Ogre's
wife put the seven little boys, and then went to bed
herself along with her husband.

Now Hop-o'-my-thumb was afraid that the Ogre would wake
in the night and kill him and his brothers while they
were asleep. So he got out of bed in the middle of the
night as softly as he could, took off all his brothers'
nightcaps and his own, and crept with them to the bed
that the Ogre's daughters were in: he then took off
their crowns, and put the night-caps on their heads
instead: next he put the crowns on his brothers' heads
and his own, and got into bed again; expecting, after
this, that, if the Ogre should come, he would take him
and his brothers for his own children. Everything
turned out as he wished. The Ogre waked soon after
midnight, and began to be very sorry that he had put
off killing the boys till the morning: so he jumped out
of bed, and took hold of his large knife. "Let us see,"
said he, "what the young rogues are about, and do the
business at once!" He then walked softly to the room
where they all slept, and went up to the bed the boys
were in, who were all asleep except Hop-o'-my-thumb. He
touched their heads one at a time, and feeling the
crowns of gold, said to himself, "Oh, oh! I had like to
have made such a mistake. I must have drunk too much
wine last night."

He went next to the bed that his own little Ogresses
were in, and when he felt the night-caps, he said, "Ah!
here you are, my lads:" and so in a moment he cut the
throats of all his daughters.

He was very much pleased when he had done this, and
then went back to his own bed. As
[30] soon as
Hop-o'-my-thumb heard him snore, he awoke his brothers,
and told them to put on their clothes quickly, and
follow him. They stole down softly into the garden, and
then jumped from the wall into the road: they ran as
fast as their legs could carry them, but were so much
afraid all the while, that they hardly knew which way
to take. When the Ogre waked in the morning, he said to
his wife, grinning, "My dear, go and dress the young
rogues I saw last night."

The wife was quite surprised at hearing her husband
speak so kindly, and did not dream of the real meaning
of his words. She supposed he wanted her to help them
to put on their clothes; so she went upstairs, and the
first thing she saw was her seven daughters with their
throats cut, and all over blood. This threw her into a
fainting fit. The Ogre was afraid his wife might be too
long in doing what he had set her about, so he went
himself to help her; but he was as much shocked as she
had been at the dreadful sight of his bleeding
children. "Ah! what have I done?" he cried; "but the
little rascals shall pay for it, I warrant them."

He first threw some water on his wife's face; and, as
soon as she came to herself, he said to her: "Bring me
quickly my seven-league boots, that I may go and catch
the little vipers."

The Ogre then put on these boots, and set out with all
speed. He strided over many parts of the country, and
at last turned into the very road in which the poor
children were. For they
[31] had set off towards the
faggot-maker's cottage, which they had almost reached.
They watched the Ogre stepping from mountain to
mountain at one step, and crossing rivers as if they
had been tiny brooks. At this Hop-o'-my-thumb thought a
little what was to be done; and spying a hollow place
under a large rock, he made his brothers get into it.
He then crept in himself, but kept his eye fixed on the
Ogre, to see what he would do next.

The Ogre found himself quite weary with the journey he
had gone, for seven-league boots are very tiresome to
the person who wears them; so he now began to think of
resting, and happened to sit down on the very rock
where the poor children were hid. As he was so tired,
and it was a very hot day, he fell fast asleep, and
soon began to snore so loud, that the little fellows
were terrified.

When Hop-o'-my-thumb saw this he said to his brothers,
"Courage, my lads! never fear! you have nothing to do
but to steal away and get home while the Ogre is fast
asleep, and leave me to shift for myself."

The brothers now were very glad to do whatever he told
them, and so they soon came to their father's house. In
the mean time Hop-o'-my-thumb went up to the Ogre
softly, pulled off his seven-league boots very gently,
and put them on his own legs: for though the boots were
very large, yet being fairy-boots, they could make
themselves small enough to fit any leg they pleased.

[32] As soon as ever Hop-o'-my-thumb had made sure of the
Ogre's seven-league boots, he went at once to the
palace, and offered his services to carry orders from
the king to his army, which was a great way off, and to
bring back the quickest accounts of the battle they
were just at that time fighting with the enemy. In
short, he thought he could be of more use to the king
than all his mail coaches, and so should make his
fortune in this manner. He succeeded so well, that in a
short time he made money enough to keep himself, his
father, mother, and six brothers, without the trouble
of working, for the rest of their lives. Having done
this, he went back to his father's cottage, where all
the family were delighted to see him again. As the
great fame of his boots had been talked of at court in
this time, the king sent for him, and indeed employed
him very often in the greatest affairs of the state, so
that he became one of the richest men in the kingdom.

And now let us see what became of the wicked Ogre. He
slept so soundly that he never discovered the loss of
his boots; but having an evil conscience and bad
dreams, he fell in his sleep from the corner of the
rock where Hop-o'-my-thumb and his brothers had left
him, and bruised himself so much from head to foot,
that he could not stir: so he was forced to stretch
himself out at full length, and wait for some one to
come and help him.

Now a good many faggot-makers paused near the place
where the Ogre lay; and, when they
[33] heard him groan,
they went up to ask him what was the matter. But the
Ogre had eaten such a great number of children in his
life-time, that he had grown so very big and fat that
these men could not even have carried one of his legs;
so they were forced to leave him there. At last night
came on, and then a large serpent came out of a wood
just by and stung him, so that he died in great pain.

By and by, Hop-o'-my-thumb, who had become the king's
first favourite, heard of the Ogre's death; and the
first thing he did was to tell his majesty all that the
good-natured Ogress had done to save the lives of
himself and brothers. The king was so much pleased at
what he heard, that he asked Hop-o'-my-thumb if there
was any favour he could bestow upon her?
Hop-o'-my-thumb thanked the king, and desired that the
Ogress might have the noble title of Duchess of
Draggletail given to her; which was no sooner asked
than granted. The Ogress then came to court, and lived
very happily for many years, enjoying the vast fortune
she had found in the Ogre's chests. As for
Hop-o'-my-thumb, he every day grew more witty and
brave; till at last the king made him the greatest lord
in the kingdom, and set him over all his affairs.